The polls may show that Quebecers want change, but Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard insists that’s what his government has been giving them.

“Look at Quebec today, in 2018, compared with Quebec in 2014,” he said on Tuesday. “Quebec has been transformed by the policies and the good management of our government.”

But a poll released on Tuesday morning suggests that message isn’t resonating with voters and that, as the provincial election campaign reaches its halfway point, support for the Liberal party is slipping.

Couillard, though, said that won’t change his campaign — or influence the promises he’s making.

“I’ve never based a public policy decision or a speech I’ve made on polls,” Couillard said. “I think people will respect me for this. I only speak about my values.

“I will name them: individual freedoms; a balance between economic development and social justice; identification to Quebec and a deep belonging to Canada as well; respect of democracy and civil society; and equity among generation.”

He pledged that his values will not change.

“I do think that the vast majority of Quebecers rally around these values and I also do think that our policies since 2014 have been in tune with those values, and I’m not bargaining, ever, my values away,” he said.

Couillard made the comments during a visit to a Laval CEGEP, where he promised that if his party is re-elected, it would give free public transit to seniors and students

The party would also develop an application and smart card system — like the Opus card used by the STM — that would be accepted by public transit agencies across the province, he said.

The Liberals would also encourage the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to begin studying the expansion of the Réseau express métropolitain toward Mirabel.

The free fares would be available to full-time students regardless of age and to people over 65 everywhere in Quebec, Couillard said. The Liberal party estimates the promise will cost $200 million a year.

“I think we are underestimating the impact of the fee structure itself on students and low-income seniors. I know a lot of seniors that simply do not leave their home because they just cannot afford the monthly pass,” Couillard said. “Would it increase the ridership? Certainly it will. Will it therefore bring a need for new buses and new drivers? Of course it will.”

A need for additional buses and new transit staff would be “great news,” Couillard said, adding that a Liberal government would support hiring by transit agencies and the purchase of new vehicles.

Local transit agencies would continue to set their own fares and would receive a subsidy from the provincial government for trips taken by seniors and students, he said.

The Liberals estimate the cost of studying the universal fare card, which the party calls the “mobility passport,” will be $5 million.

Developing and deploying the Opus card cost $217 million, the STM said in 2012. However, Couillard said he expects the cost of the “passport” to be relatively small.

“Most of the transport societies already have cards. With today’s technology, it’s not very difficult to make them talk to one another or even to put all of this on a smartphone application,” Couillard said.

The universal fare card would be accepted by all transit agencies in the province and by car-share and bike-share services.

Couillard made the promise at Collège Montmorency and while students gathered to watch the Liberal leader’s announcement cheered the promise, not everyone was impressed.

As he was leaving the CEGEP, Couillard spoke for a moment with student Florent Pilote.

Free transit is good, Pilote said after speaking with Couillard, but for him investments in educational infrastructure are more important.

He said classes at his school are so crowded that teachers have to give their chairs to students.

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